Shakespeare and our House of Cards

Shakespeare's moral realism cultivates moral realism

Dr. Samuel Johnson, in his Preface to Shakespeare, noted that ‘Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature.’ Shakespeare’s plays continue to teach and delight audiences because human nature is unchanging. Although justice may not be immediate, there is always a reckoning for the immoral and impious.

Today’s dramas ignore this fact.

Those who have lived the lie of House of Cards may have forgotten it, but our society now demonstrates it.